Update that improves cluster resiliency in Windows Server 2012 is available

Important The hotfix that corresponds to KB 2838669 has been included with the hotfix KB 2878635, which contains all fixes that were previously included in KB 2838669.

Symptoms

This article introduces an update for cluster resiliency improvements in Windows Server 2012. After you install this update, the following issues that you experience are resolved:

Issue 1Consider the following scnario:

You have the Hyper-V server role installed on a Windows Server 2012-based file server.

You have lots of virtual machines on a Server Message Block (SMB) share.

Virtual hard disks are attached to an iSCSI controller.

In this scenario, you cannot access to the iSCSI controller.

Issue 2Consider the following scenario:

You have a two-node failover cluster that is running Windows Server 2012.

The cluster is partitioned.

There is a Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) on a cluster node, and a quorum resource on the other cluster node.

In this scenario, the cluster becomes unavailable.

Note This issue can be temporarily resolved by restarting the cluster.

Issue 3Assume that you set up an SMB connection between two Windows Server 2012-based computers. The hardware on the computers do not support Offloaded Data Transfer (ODX). In this situation, the SMB session is closed unexpectedly.

Issue 4Consider the following scenario:

You have a Windows Server 2012-based failover cluster.

You have a virtual machine on a CSV volume on the cluster.

You try to create a snapshot for the virtual machine. However, the snapshot creation is detected as stuck. Therefore, the snapshot set is aborted.

During the abortion process of the snapshot, the CSV volume is deleted after the snapshot shares are deleted.

In this scenario, the abortion process is paused automatically because of an error that occurs on the cluster.

Issue 5Assume that you have a Windows Server 2012-based failover cluster. Two specific snapshot state change requests are sent from disk control manager to CSV proxy file system (CSVFS). The requests are present in the same message. In this situation, disk control manager is out-of-sync with CSVFS.

Issue 6Assume that you create a snapshot for a CSV volume on a Windows Server 2012-based failover cluster. When the snapshot creation is still in progress, another snapshot creation is requested on the same CSV volume. In this situation, the snapshot creation fails and all later snapshot creation attempts on the CSV volume fail.

Note You cannot create a snapshot for the CSV volume until the volume fails over or the volume goes offline and then back online.

Additionally, the update also resolves the issues that are described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) articles:

2799728 Virtual machine enters a paused state or a CSV volume goes offline when you try to create a backup of the virtual machine on a Windows Server 2012-based failover cluster

2801054 VSS_E_SNAPSHOT_SET_IN_PROGRESS error when you try to back up a virtual machine in Windows Server 2012

2813630 Virtual machine enters a paused state or a CSV volume goes offline when you try to create a backup of the virtual machine on a Windows Server 2012-based failover cluster

2824600 Virtual machine enters a paused state or goes offline when you try to create a backup of the virtual machine on a CSV volume in Windows Server 2012

Resolution

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix Download Available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, submit a request to Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft website:

Note The "Hotfix Download Available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

Prerequisites

To apply this hotfix, you must be running Windows Server 2012.

Registry information

To use the hotfix in this package, you do not have to make any changes to the registry.

Restart requirement

You must restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

The hotfix that corresponds to KB 2838669 has been superseded with the hotfix KB 2878635, which contains all fixes that were previously included in KB 2838669. You should use the hotfix KB 2878635 to fix the issues described in KB 2838669. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

2878635 Update is available that improves the resiliency of the cloud service provider in Windows Server 2012: December 2013

File information

The global version of this hotfix installs files that have the attributes that are listed in the following tables. The dates and the times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The dates and the times for these files on your local computer are displayed in your local time together with your current daylight saving time (DST) bias. Additionally, the dates and the times may change when you perform certain operations on the files.

Windows Server 2012 file information notes

Important Windows 8 hotfixes and Windows Server 2012 hotfixes are included in the same packages. However, only "Windows 8" is listed on the Hotfix Request page. To request the hotfix package that applies to one or both operating systems, select the hotfix that is listed under "Windows 8" on the page. Always refer to the "Applies To" section in articles to determine the actual operating system that each hotfix applies to.

The files that apply to a specific product, milestone (RTM, SPn), and service branch (LDR, GDR) can be identified by examining the file version numbers as shown in the following table:

Version

Product

Milestone

Service branch

6.2.920 0.20 xxx

Windows Server 2012

RTM

LDR

The MANIFEST files (.manifest) and the MUM files (.mum) that are installed for each environment are listed separately in the "Additional file information for Windows Server 2012" section. MUM and MANIFEST files, and the associated security catalog (.cat) files, are extremely important to maintain the state of the updated components. The security catalog files, for which the attributes are not listed, are signed with a Microsoft digital signature.

For all supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2012

File name

File version

File size

Date

Time

Platform

Csvflt.sys

6.2.9200.20682

205,824

06-Apr-2013

05:08

x64

Clussvc.exe

6.2.9200.20686

7,219,200

11-Apr-2013

23:17

x64

Csvfs.sys

6.2.9200.20686

624,128

11-Apr-2013

22:15

x64

Fssagent.dll

6.2.9200.20682

506,880

11-Apr-2013

23:16

x64

Kernelbase.dll

6.2.9200.20682

976,384

11-Apr-2013

23:16

x64

Ntfs.sys

6.2.9200.20684

1,935,624

12-Apr-2013

01:21

x64

Rdbss.sys

6.2.9200.20685

423,936

10-Apr-2013

22:23

x64

Srv2.sys

6.2.9200.20685

619,520

10-Apr-2013

22:23

x64

Kernelbase.dll

6.2.9200.20685

666,112

11-Apr-2013

03:24

x86

Status

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

More information

For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates